one who supports Reaction in opposition to the general progressive Western zeitgeist, often accompanied by a sense that the expansion of democratic politcs has made life in general much worse either in absolute terms, or measured by what should have been achievable with modern science, reason, and technology; usually believes race is a real genetic construct and therefore not surprised at disparate average outcomes across large population groups; often believes human evolution has in part or in toto shaped human nature, which therefore cannot easily, or at all, be changed very much by social engineering and/or conditioning; usually believes heirarchy is imprinted upon mankind by nature and/or God, and that heirarchy is not only not necessarily evil, but desirable and even inevitable and ought not be torn down for any but the most grave reasons; tends to support tradition either as revealed by his religion and/or as successful adaptive memetic developments which usually solve deep and complex problems in human societies; anti-revolutionary; anti-socialist; anti-communist; anti-whig; anti-democratic; anti-globalist; skeptical; (once a term of derision, most reactionaries of late do happily so self-identify)

Tom suddenly realized he couldn't find a single Republican at the convention who didn't hail FDR anything less than a great hero. He remembered knowing conservatives in his youth who opposed both FDR and WWII. But where were they now? They had disappeared, but their thoughts and words had not. Tom hadn't changed his mind about much in the past 25 years, but he suddenly realized he was a Reactionary.

1. A reactionary is, generally speaking, someone who is not only opposed to change, but wants to roll the clock back on any changes that have already happened. This stands in contrast to a conservative, who wants to maintain the status quo.

2. In what is either an Orwellian attempt to rewrite language, or the result of the defense mechanism known as projection, the word "reactionary" is also used by reactionaries as a slur against anyone who is not a reactionary.

1. The economic policies of Ronald Reagan were reactionary, because they rolled back many of the regulations and protections that had been created during the 20th century, based on the very same laissez faire economic theories that had previously resulted in the Great Depression.

2. I hate these reactionaries who advocate an expansion of the rights of marginalized people. We should send them back to the days when no one ever heard or cared about trans women getting stabbed to death; that would teach them who was boss.

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extreme conservatism, especially in politics. wanting to restore to past conditions that can no longer compete with modern changes.

Former radical hippies turning into post reactionary hippies

The "reactionary" elders of this country held on to the belief that someday after the reign of republican presidents the figure of chieftain or king will be restored as the political head figure once again.